Okay...I need some help guys

Okay...heres my problem and the story on how I think it happened.
I have been playing for about 9-years now....only the last 1 1/2 years have I been VERY serious about my playing involving my technique and such. I have noticed that there are certain parts in solos (for and example...the first part of the master of puppets 3rd solo) that i just cannot get my fretboard hand to move fast enough....i thought it might be cause of my picking hand....but then i put my picking hand down and tried it without picking...just to see if i could get my fingers in place fast enough....I cant. I know this may sound like a dumb question...but does speed have to devlop in your fretboard hand? Or is it just syncing up both hands that matters....cause here latley I have been feeling like I just picked up the guitar again and it is very frustrating.

The second part of my question is probably my main issue...My fingers on my left and wont stay close to the strings when i play...my fingers have a tency to kind of "wander off" when Im not using them....Is there a sure fire way to get my figers to hove above the strings like say....1/2 inch or so from the fretboard....i think thats where most of my speed issue comes from. I asspire to play alot of vai, satch and petrucci but how can I if my fingers wont stay close enough to the fretboard. I have played like this for 7 or 8 years now....and I really need to kill the habbit....some advice please? Ty.

the answer to both problems is simply persistance

Try this:
Play an F bar chord on the E string, then, without pausing, improvise a fast lick based around that chord shape. Move straight on up to F# and do the same thing. Repeat this all the way up the fretboard, then move onto the A string and do the same thing. If you do it fast enough, your fingers won't have time to wander, and they'll be practically glued to the fretboard by the time you're finished!

Well, it worked for me anyway :o (I did this exercise a lot when I was learning the basics of lead guitar).

Hi,

Yes, go to wwww.guitarprinciples.com and read all of the articles on the site!

Also since you are having trouble keeping the fingers low to the strings, I would suggest practicing even slower than with the metronome. The focus should be not on keeping a precise tempo but rather on training the hands to do the movements correctly (in this case stay low to the strings)

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

Mike.

I agree with Mike. Developing muscle memory is key.

one thing about increasing speed is that u have to relax ur hand. if your hand is tense motion will be restricted by the resistance in your hand. you have to try to be really relaxed, obviosly this is easy at slow speeds so just do some easy licks slowly and speed them up but make sure your hand is relaxed. i had the same problem myself, cos ur hand ends up getting tierd quickly. otherwise its just practice. if its purly a speed thing i would sugest choosing three notes and playing them quickly with relaxed fingers and making different patterns. if it is the riff itself, eg it is tricky eg string skipping, just paractice it a lot.

anyway good luck and keep practicing. i found developing speed takes time so u mite want to develope some other skills at the same time.

i use to have that problem but ai try types of pikin if you one thing about speed is that u have to relax ur hand and try to do massage at your hand for relaxing
and try wand it uses metronome in a fast velosity but that you can do it well when you do it you can incris at a fast velosity but try to do it with exercises of string skiping to give to exercise the two hands


Garitubituzaby

Get some finger independence exercises.